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For anyone who isn't German, this is a recipe for a beef roll-up covered in gravy and stuffed with an honest-to-goodness delicious mixture of onions, pickles, and bacon. To our German friends, this is a simple, traditional German Rouladen recipe!

What to Do

Sprinkle about 1 tablespoon each of onion, pickles, and bacon on each slice of beef. Roll up meat tightly and secure each with a toothpick.

In a large pot over medium-high heat, heat oil. Place meat rolls in pot and saute until browned on all sides. Add remaining onion, pickles, and bacon to pot. Add broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 50 to 55 minutes, or until beef is fork-tender.

Remove beef to a platter and remove toothpicks. Cover and set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk flour and water. Pour mixture into pot and stir constantly until thickened. Stir in remaining salt and pepper. Pour gravy over beef and serve immediately.

I am German, and bread and butter pickles are the closest to German pickles there is in the US. Everything else is either way too sweet, or way too salty. German pickles are in the middle, and so are bread and butter pickles. To get the most authentic flavor, I highly recommend not using any other pickles.

My German parents' recipe is similar to this except I spread a thin layer of yellow mustard on the beef before rolling and use dill pickle slices instead of bread and butter pickles and also put a couple small bay leaves into the simmering liquid then pull them out when making the gravy. I do not add onions, pickles or bacon to the simmering liquid.

This is close to what I was taught growing up. In my Family we would lay out the meat, Salt and Pepper it, then put down a thin layer of spicy Mustard. Top this with a slice of Bacon and a little bit of chopped Spinach. Place a quartered Pickle at the top and use this as a pivot to roll the entire thing up. Peg it with Toothpicks and cook as you described.